Deep Dives
The world’s greatest challenges don’t always have simple answers. Going beyond the surface is critical when it comes to solving global problems. Our experts know how important it is to look back at history and consider the big picture if we want to find solutions that work.
Highlights

IISD Trade and Sustainability Review, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2023
This issue of the IISD Trade and Sustainability Review dives into topics such as free trade agreements, industrial policy and the new WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement.

Why Canada Is Unlikely to Sell the Last Barrel of Oil
This research piece breaks down why Canada will not sell the last barrel of oil.

From Sharm el-Sheikh to Montreal: Seizing the moment for the biodiversity–climate nexus at COP 15
The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework negotiations at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal represent a once-in-a-decade moment to set an ambitious agenda for biodiversity conservation.
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Showing 21-30 of 71 results
How to Enforce the Polluter-Pays Principle
The simple but compelling idea that the "polluter pays" comes with considerable uncertainties and ambiguities during its use.
Science-Policy Interfaces: From Warnings to Solutions
What lessons have we learned at bridging the enduring gulf between environmental science and policymaking?
Building Peace and Climate Resilience: Aligning peacebuilding and climate adaptation in fragile states
Failure to integrate climate adaptation considerations into peacebuilding plans and post-conflict development agendas can undermine the long-term viability of both.
From Land Degradation to Land Restoration
Combating desertification, land degradation, and droughts can win socio-economic benefits for people in drylands and reduce climate change impacts.
Sustainable Food Systems in Canada
IISD undertook a scoping exercise to hear from our staff, civil society, and policy partners about what they see as some of the biggest challenges in charting a path to sustainable food systems in Canada.
The Paris Agreement’s New Article 6 Rules
The COP 26 climate negotiations in Glasgow led to the highly-anticipated conclusion of rules aimed to help put into practice the Paris Agreement's Article 6. What do these new rules mean and what can we learn from the past?
“The Ocean Is Not a Dumping Ground” Fifty Years of Regulating Ocean Dumping
Dumping waste not only threatens the ocean we know, but also the 80% of the ocean that has yet to be explored.
The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury
Years of activism over mercury poisoning led to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a landmark treaty on environment and health. Going forward, what work still remains and what can we learn?
How to Advance Sustainable Mining
Regulation of mining activities depends mainly on national frameworks and policies, but implementing good plans and practices remains problematic.
The Paradox of Pledging: Is more flexibility enough?
With just weeks remaining until the UN climate talks in Glasgow and countries facing calls to show greater ambition, it's time to look at what we have learned from "bottom-up" approaches to environmental governance.